Leather Workers

[gary]

Well put Ray............

Ditto.

I have never been refused help when appealing for assistance on this forum. Even some who may regard their patterns as their stock-in-trade have assisted me tremendously and for all those who have helped I am most sincerely grateful.

One could not ask for a better group to be around and I have found the open-ness and generosity refreshing and it has challenged some of my rather cynical ideas about human nature.

And no post on this subject can be complete withoout acknowledging those who have made and are continue to make LW possible.

Gary

[wareagle]

Where I am coming from is the the less than 10% of the people here that when a question on how to do something is asked their response is go find out for your self that is what I had to do. instead of pointing out that the technique is called and if they know of a tutorial pointing to it or a short explanation on how to do it or to reference a book for the more complex techniques. but for them just to say do it yourself and find it your self is rude and crude and leaves the forum looking bad for the new people trying to learn.

For the most part everybody here is very helpful and willing to answer questions, and I thank you for that.

Edited September 3, 2010 by wareagle

[King's X]

I can't really comment back on RDB cause I do this as a hobby and give most of my patterns away. For me if it turns out to be work, I already have a job and don't need another one, so I keep it fun to keep truckin! Like UK Ray said, I have personally run into about a handful of people who will not share their stuff on the full spectrum from skills, techniques to patterns or ideas. For me that is cool, but it never hurts to ask. If you get turned down, move on and don't dwell on something you cannot change! I find inspiration from this forum on many of my ideas, but if my final concept come close to or repeating a pattern, I make a college effort to drop a dime as we use to say and ask/advise the original owner if they are cool with it.

As for the rest of the forum members, they have shared with me and I have tried to return the favor to others who are attempting to learn as I have been doing for the past couple of years. So, come over to me site and I would be willing to help out anyway I can.

Good luck.

[rcsaddles]

I will admit I did not read all the posts on this thread but I have to agree that I'm here not only to learn more but also to help others. I love doing the leatherwork I do. Will also admit that I have spread myself way too thin and trying to do too much and don't do any of it real well.

I have given away pattern when asked and most of the time covered the postage. Made a few trades with some people and sold items for others here. In the future, I think before the end of the year, I may be advertising a couple sewing machines for sale. I believe that the Lord blessed me when I got started so I am trying to be a blessing to others by helping them.

I also believe the leather working is a dying art. I personally have not run in to anyone on this site that was not ready and willing to help. I got flower patterns on here and now I make the flowers and that is my most requested item for the past six months.

This site has such a wealth of information from the people here that it is just amazing. Someone said something about watch the way others do things, adjust it to work for you and improve upon it. There are not many things that can only be done one way only. I would tell others to try it and then make it work for you.

[UKRay]

Personally, I'm more than a little concerned that people think leatherworking is a dying craft as I most emphatically don't agree.

I would agree that certain aspects of leather work have had their best days, including some of the traditional 'horse related' industries but even these are being superseded by new demands for products. The rise in recreational horsemanship has never been stronger and this has created a demand all its own.

Fashion is demanding leatherwork of all kinds and the race is on to find new colours, textures and ways of joining and decorating leather. It has spawned a myriad of 'supporting' industries making amazing conchos, unusual spots and studs, elaborate buckles, rivets and all the other hardware used by leatherworkers. Leatherworking tool sales are increasing worldwide - this is not the sign of a dying industry, more one that is moving away from old fashioned ideas and embracing new concepts and conventions.

Okay, there are those who say that leather is being replaced by plastic but I'm afraid I don't agree with that either! No plastic can ever replace the look feel, smell and prestige of genuine leather. How many people would prefer a plastic belt to hold their pants up? Not many and, with the rise in concerns about global warming, oil based plastics are increasingly seen as environmentally (and socially) unacceptable. Leather, as a by-product of the food industry, is a lot less harmful to the planet.

This is a time of incredible creativity in the world of leatherworking. In addition to traditional skills we are now using new and exciting techniques (computer controlled lasers, water jet cutting and gas powered thermal lances to name but a few). How can anyone say this is a dying art? That is patently nonsense as it is growing in popularity across the world. Okay, geographically things are shifting around but that doesn't mean it is dying - just moving!

Just look at the facts: Initially the centre of the world's leather industry was based in Walsall, England, then, as the US market developed the emphasis shifted across the pond. Now we are starting to see the most amazing leatherwork coming out of China. How can anyone begin to think that the industry is on its last legs? It is simply developing and evolving - and obviously some people are having a problem keeping up!

If you choose to adopt a doom and gloom approach to leatherworking you are doing the industry and yourself no favours. We need to recognise the positive aspects of leatherworking and reflect them to the rest of the world. We need to build the 'leather' brand and support it - IMHO, saying the industry is dying is neither true nor remotely helpful.

Ray

[jeeperaz]

A rant if you will....

Early last month, someone posted a picture of an item they made. I replied with my admiration for the piece. I then sent them a PM to ask more info about a type of rivet they used. A few days went by without a reply so I posted again to the original thread in case they somehow missed my PM. Well, with the new software here, I can see that the person has indeed read my PM and obviously chooses to ignore my very general inquiry.... about a brass rivet for god's sake. I wasn't asking for their source... I just asked him if he could tell me more about it and if it's hard to set.

I guess what bothers me most is this person's contribution on leatherworker.net is almost entirely made up of them asking questions or seeking info.

Luckily, this place is full of people at the other end of the character spectrum.

[Billy P]

Personally, I'm more than a little concerned that people think leatherworking is a dying craft as I most emphatically don't agree.

I would agree that certain aspects of leather work have had their best days, including some of the traditional 'horse related' industries but even these are being superseded by new demands for products. The rise in recreational horsemanship has never been stronger and this has created a demand all its own.

Fashion is demanding leatherwork of all kinds and the race is on to find new colours, textures and ways of joining and decorating leather. It has spawned a myriad of 'supporting' industries making amazing conchos, unusual spots and studs, elaborate buckles, rivets and all the other hardware used by leatherworkers. Leatherworking tool sales are increasing worldwide - this is not the sign of a dying industry, more one that is moving away from old fashioned ideas and embracing new concepts and conventions.

Okay, there are those who say that leather is being replaced by plastic but I'm afraid I don't agree with that either! No plastic can ever replace the look feel, smell and prestige of genuine leather. How many people would prefer a plastic belt to hold their pants up? Not many and, with the rise in concerns about global warming, oil based plastics are increasingly seen as environmentally (and socially) unacceptable. Leather, as a by-product of the food industry, is a lot less harmful to the planet.

This is a time of incredible creativity in the world of leatherworking. In addition to traditional skills we are now using new and exciting techniques (computer controlled lasers, water jet cutting and gas powered thermal lances to name but a few). How can anyone say this is a dying art? That is patently nonsense as it is growing in popularity across the world. Okay, geographically things are shifting around but that doesn't mean it is dying - just moving!

Just look at the facts: Initially the centre of the world's leather industry was based in Walsall, England, then, as the US market developed the emphasis shifted across the pond. Now we are starting to see the most amazing leatherwork coming out of China. How can anyone begin to think that the industry is on its last legs? It is simply developing and evolving - and obviously some people are having a problem keeping up!

If you choose to adopt a doom and gloom approach to leatherworking you are doing the industry and yourself no favours. We need to recognise the positive aspects of leatherworking and reflect them to the rest of the world. We need to build the 'leather' brand and support it - IMHO, saying the industry is dying is neither true nor remotely helpful.

Ray

I just wanted to comment on what Ray said about the plastic belts and such. I just finished up (2) belts for people here in my small town. Our population is about 350 people. They both had belts one from Wal-Mart the other from a higher end department/clothing store. Both of their belts were torn up, because of being belts. The plastic just can't hold up to bigger people wearing them every day. One guy wore his one day and the next morning asked me to make him another one in black. You can make a lot of the same things in plastic as you can in leather, but the plastic is never gonna hold up to heavy use as well. What does a person gain if he buys 3 or 4 belts for $15 each and they wear out in a couple of weeks or gets a plain $40 leather belt that will last for years? Anyway my 2 cents worth Billy P

[UKRay]

A rant if you will....

I guess what bothers me most is this person's contribution on leatherworker.net is almost entirely made up of them asking questions or seeking info.

Luckily, this place is full of people at the other end of the character spectrum.

Jeeperaz - just let it go, fella. There are all sorts of folk in the world. Some give and others take. The takers don't end up with too many friends and eventually they move on. I say let 'em go while you stick with those folks who make a positive difference.

BillyP - I was a bit concerned that I was making the water too muddy but you have got exactly what I meant. Leather can't die because there is nothing better. End of story.

Ray

[Peter Ellis]

It's a curious thing.

Someone asks a question. They get a series of responses that do a very credible job of answering the question that was asked. In that series of responses is one that could fairly be described as brusque. It wasn't mean, but it also wasn't tender and patient.

That one response apparently prevented the person who asked the question from recognizing the numerous helpful answers provided (and btw, the response, while not gentle, contained helpful information).

And now, we're being focused on some small percentage of our community who may not always be willing to give away all of the secrets they've spent years of effort figuring out.

It's just silly.

Here's a truth about this craft (whether you work it for a living or just as a hobby): No one can give it to you.

You have to practice, you have to learn for yourself what works for you, you have to develop the hand-eye coordination, the sense of when the leather is right for the step you want to do next, the list goes on and on.

I have the devil's time working with meander stamps. I can't get them to line up consistently and in a line of any length I'll vary the depth of the impression too much. No one, anywhere, can tell me anything that will fix that

I just have to focus on doing each individual impression just right, make sure I line up properly and patiently hit it the same way as the last twenty. The only possible way for me to master these tools is for me to practice with intent to get better.

Sure, people can give us helpful suggestions and I've learned tons here. But, some of you are design geniuses and no amount of you telling me how you do it will make me one. Some are color and shading experts and I'll never match your skill no matter how much information you share with me. You can help me to help myself get better.

But you can't give it to me, and I wouldn't want it if you could. But I surely do appreciate your help as I try to figure it out

Edited September 4, 2010 by Peter Ellis

[BAD HIDE]

Good post Peter,

and it touches on a key part of teaching the craft - how open should we be to teach the secrets we've learned? Yeah, it's taken years of struggle to figure a few things out, but do we hold back what we've learned so the newbies take just as long to figure it out? Do we open up and give tips and pointers, so they don't waste their time like we did? Or do they not have the skills to utilize our secrets properly? All the help in the world isn't gonna teach a thing if you don't know what to do with them, and experience is the best teacher.

I've had to come up with a lot on my own, and even though there's a lot of info out there, there's very few places where you can find exactly the answer you need easily. The Stohlman books are excellent, but those are decades old and pretty much stand alone when it comes to quality info and patterns. There's excellent work and tutorials posted on this site, so I know the knowledge is out there, it's just not all written down nice and neat.

Edited September 4, 2010 by BAD HIDE